After more than an hour of discussion Wednesday night, St. Cloud school board came to a consensus for how to move forward on figuring out what to do with the former Wilson school.

Board members informally agreed that the board's intent is to try to sell the property. Board members asked Superintendent Willie Jett to talk with the owners of Little Saints Academy — who are leasing parts of the building — about possibly purchasing the building.

If the owners offer a purchase price, the board is asking Jett to get a legal recommendation as to whether the district can sell the building without listing it on the market, and then bring the offer to the finance committee and subsequently back to the board for final approval.

Ten people spoke about the Wilson building at a public forum, including Amy Bonfig, Little Saints director and owner.

Bonfig asked that the board make a decision and move forward.

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The former Wilson School building shown Wednesday, Feb. 21, along Ninth Avenue North.(Photo: Jason Wachter, jwachter@stcloudtimes.com)

"It's imperative something happen," she said. "My (students') parents are afraid they are going to show up one day and the doors will be locked."

Bonfig said a family left the school this week due to the uncertainty of whether the facility will stay open because the district has made no long-term decisions about whether to continue leasing or sell the building. The uncertainty also affects Bonfig's 30 employees, she said.

Jett said the Little Saints Academy owners are willing to purchase the building and planning to make an offer. He said the lessees are not interested in continuing to lease the building if the district sells it to a different owner.

Board member Jerry Von Korff said he sought a legal opinion from the law firm Rupp, Anderson, Squires & Waldspurger on whether school districts have a legal obligation to maximize the proceeds of a real estate sale.

Although there is no court case in Minnesota to support the opinion, the firm's legal opinion was that the district does have a fiduciary duty to sell the property appropriately but that the district can take into account nonfinancial considerations, too.

Board Chair Al Dahlgren said he is concerned about the district's fiduciary responsibility, as well as being fair to Little Saints and the neighborhood.

Dahlgren said he is concerned about the district selling the building and land below market value and how that would look to the district's taxpayers. But he also doesn't want to harm Little Saints Academy, he said.

"I think it has to be fair," Dahlgren said.

Jett said he will come back with a proposal he feels is consistent with what the board discussed.

Others who spoke at the open forum included Northside-Hester Park Neighborhood residents, parents of children who attend Little Saints and other community members.

Prescott Handley, who lives in the neighborhood, said the children bring vitality to the neighborhood. She also spoke to how the uncertainty about the building's future has affected the neighborhood and families since the district considered selling the building in 2015.

"That's a long time to have this issue be out there," Handley said.

The district received an offer from a local contractor in March 2015. Shortly after, Little Saints submitted a letter of intent to purchase the building. In July 2015, CommonBond Communities made an offer to build an affordable housing project.

The CommonBond offer was rescinded after neighborhood opposition and the district did not accept the other two offers.

Wilson school was built in 1930 and is about 30,000 square feet. The district sought a broker's opinion from Warnert Commercial Real Estate in 2015, which assessed the building and land at about $623,000. A 12,000-square-foot adjacent lot was valued at $25,000, and a lot across the street was valued at $51,000.

In January, the property was appraised by Chadwick Appraisals at $10,000 based on the current single-family residential use, according to Amy Skaalerud, executive director business services.

Skaalerud said the land was appraised at $210,000, but to be used for single-family houses, it would require demolition, which was estimated to cost $200,000.

The district could sell the building or continue to lease it.

An advantage of continuing to lease the building, according to documents put together by district administration, is that the land could potentially increase in value.

An advantage of selling the building and land is the district gets rid of liability of maintenance costs; future costs of replacing the roof or boiler could be significant, agenda documents state.

At the Feb. 22 meeting, the board discussed the Wilson building after the finance committee recommended the board list the building on the market.

Dahlgren, a member of the finance committee, said the reason the Wilson building is coming forward now is because the board wants to finally make a decision on the future of the property.